Samuel Gorton III

of Warwick, Rhode Island

Samuel Gorton III was born on June 29, 1690 in Warwick, Rhode Island. He was the eldest of three children born to Samuel and Susannah (Burton) Gorton of Warwick. Samuel's grandfather was Samuel Gorton, the founder of Warwick and the immigrant ancestor of this line of the Gorton family in America.

On June 1, 1715 at the age of nearly twenty-five, Samuel married Freelove Mason, the twenty-year-old daughter of Elder Joseph and Lydia (Bowen) Mason. [Elder Joseph Mason, of Warren, R. I., mentions in his will, dated March 26, 1748, his daughter, Freelove Gorton, and his granddaughter, Susannah.] Samuel and Freelove's first child, a son named Samuel (the fourth), was born on March 7, 1716/17. The couple had the following nine children:

• Samuel Gorton, b. 07 March 1716/17, Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island; d. July 1777, buried at Coweset Ground; m. (1) Ruth Slade, 09 December 1742, Swansey (Swansea), Bristol County, Massachusetts; m. (2) Frances Rice, Aft. 1764.
• Freelove Gorton, b. 27 August 1718, Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.
• Ann Gorton, b. 07 September 1721, Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.
• Lydia Gorton, b. 01 February 1722/23, Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island.
• Benjamin Gorton, b. 02 June 1725, Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.; m. Avis Hulett, 18 July 1762.
• William Gorton, b. 1727, Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
• Joseph Gorton, b. 1729, Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.; d. 31 August 1821; m. Mary Barton, 01 January 1762.
• Susannah Gorton, b. 06 June 1734, Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.
• Hezekiah Gorton, b. 09 July 1736, Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts.

In The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton, Adelos Gorton relates that Samuel and Freelove moved from Warwick to Swansey, Mass, where their last five children were born. Samuel died in January, 1784, and was buried in Warwick on January 23, 1784 near his son, Deacon Benjamin Gorton's house. The funeral sermon was perfromed by Elder John Gorton. The inventory of Samuel's estate was filed on March 8, 1784.

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